Growing Pains 2.0: Is 2025 the 2021 timeline?

[bluerap23]

It's more like 2013-14 in the development arc. That was our first winning season in the Kyle/DeMar era. This team is arguable better and further ahead. Kyle and DeMar = Scottie and BI (debatable which duo is/will be better). Rudy Gay = RJ (RJ is better). Rudy was traded that year at the for some much needed bench experience and pop. JV = Yak (JV was healthy though). That team had a decent starting lineup but very poor depth before the trade. This team's depth issue is more a product of inexperience. In some ways the bench is more like 2017-2018 when Fred, Pascal and Yak were in their second season. IMHO CMB, Jakobe and Shead are going to contribute when they are mature. Even Gradey still has a chance (his defence is much improved, just needs to hit his 3's again). It will take time though.

[ConSarnit]

I don’t really think it’s a fair comp if you’re considering timelines. Between 2018-2020 we had maybe the worst draft asset base in the league due to needing to upgrade the team through trades in order to win the title.

That ‘21 team was hamstrung in a way the current team is not. Obviously the current team has more upside because outside of the ‘21 starters almost every young guy was drafted lower than 45th (traditionally an area where the draft shows a steep drop off).

The only argument for the ‘21 team would be Barnes potential growth, which had the highest upside of anyone we’ve drafted in the past 8 years. The young players coffers were extremely bare in ‘21.

Plus Dragić being the dead money, which 20m can acquire you a pretty good player.
Assume that is Poeltl, that would completely change the depth of the team as well.

The front office management over those years were pretty bad.

I don’t blame them for ‘21/22. Most teams are going to have a couple of down years when you go all-in to win a title. When you have aged out vets and limited youth because you had to trade picks to build a title winner it’s going to take a year or 2 to recover.

[TheRaptor!]

Is our current team at the same timeline as the beginning of 2021/2022, where we accumulated many young assets and expected their organic growth (with growing pains) to propel us to contender status?

Which team has higher ceiling?

2021/2022 Starting lineup and key bench players
Pascal Siakam PF/C
Scottie Barnes PF/SF
OG Anunoby SF/SG
Gary Trent Jr SG
Fred VanVleet PG

Precious Achiuwa
Khem Birch
Chris Boucher
Malachi Flynn
Dalano Banton



2025/2026 Starting lineup and key bench players
Jakob Poeltl C
Scottie Barnes PF
Brandon Ingram SF
RJ Barrett SG
Immanuel Quickley PG

Sandro Mamukelashvili
Collin Murray-Boyles
Jamal Shead
Ja'Kobe Walter
Gradey Dick

Looking back...our starting line up is still solid af, we were just missing a center

We lose alot this year without a center too...

[YogurtProducer]

But at that time, Achiuwa, Banton and Flynn were touted as the new bench mob, with good potential, just like today CMB/Shead/Walter

No they weren’t.

There was hopes at least 1 would develop, but CMB/Walter are different tiers of prospects than any of those 3. Shead has propelled himself to ahead of the 2022 3 as well.

Really? Back then everyone talked about Achiuwa (myself included) like we are talking about CMB today

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Posting bad takes to justify more bad takes?

This team has waaaay better (and more) young guys